Song clips and
movie highlights then reminded us this Academy Award-winning story is not just
well-known, but iconic.

To successfully
present "Mary Poppins" in 2014 - to bravely take on Andrews and Dick Van Dyke,
the song and dance numbers - let alone the flying - would take real magic.

Artpark &
Company conjured up some hocus-pocus in an attempt to bring the Disney favorite
to Lewiston. In a fairytale series of events, key ingredients came together,
allowing the venue to present "Mary Poppins."

First off, the
show became available.

"We've been
trying, in recent years, to concentrate on doing a Broadway musical that is
very family-oriented," said Artpark & Company President George Osborne. "We
started with 'Beauty and the Beast,' which was quite successful. We did well
with 'Joseph' and 'Sound of Music' and 'Cinderella.'

"So then they
released the rights to 'Mary Poppins' about a year ago. We've had this show on
the books scheduled for almost a year now."

Once the musical
was booked, Artpark & Company needed two more key ingredients: Mary
Poppins, and something to enable her to fly around the stage.

The former was
easy. The latter took a little more effort.

"We're lucky that
we've discovered this young, wonderful talent - Emilie Renier - who's coming
back to do the third straight year as a lead," Osborne said.

Renier starred as
Cinderella in 2012, and then as Maria in last summer's "The Sound of Music."
She was nothing less than brilliant in both roles.

"There's only,
like, two companies in the U.S. and Canada that actually handle all the rigs
required to fly people," Osborne said. "We've engaged this company, and they'll
be coming in and putting up the rigging and giving lessons to the 'Mary
Poppins' characters so they'll be safe."

Once all the
pieces were in place, it was time to get to work on bringing one of the most
famous movies of all time to the stage.

The "Mary Poppins"
cast and crew have been hard at work inside the Mainstage Theater for several
weeks preparing for the musical, which will be presented July 31 through Aug.
8.

"I think it's
going to be interesting for audiences, because Mary Poppins, in the movie, is
very sweet. And she's not quite so sweet in the show," Renier said. "It's
funny, because I keep getting notes from our director that's, like, 'You have
to be harsher. You have to be sterner.' And I'm, like, 'Ohhhh, noooo!'

"Mary Poppins is
very different in the musical."

The musical's
story centers on George and Winnie Banks and their children, Jane and Michael,
who have sent myriad nannies packing. When Mary Poppins arrives, she is
determined to straighten the kids out - and to rekindle their relationship with
their parents.

John Barsoian, who
plays Bert, the title character's close friend, said, "I think with Mary
Poppins, going back to P.L. Travers, who wrote the book, Mary Poppins doesn't
sugarcoat things. She tells you exactly how life is. I think that's kind of
hard to swallow, but the way Mary Poppins delivers it, with 'a spoonful of
sugar,' she can be very blunt."

"But ... the way
Mary Poppins is, and the way the show's constructed, is that you don't love her
any less," he added. "You want to learn from her; and you want to listen to
her; and I think that's what's so important for the Banks family, is that
they're drawn to this person."

With Renier and
Barsoian in place, longtime Artpark director Randall Kramer at the helm, and
Artpark & Company working behind the scenes, it's not hard to imagine audiences
will be drawn to "Mary Poppins," too.

Look for our
review next weekend.

For a list of
"Mary Poppins" show times and dates, or to purchase tickets, visit www.artpark.net.